Turn Up the Heat (29 page)

 

Ingredients
:

Cut avocados in half and remove the seeds (one good whack with a sharp knife should help it pop right out, but be careful!). Scoop the pulp from each avocado into a large bowl (I like to use my hands for this, but a spoon works too). Discard skins. Add lime juice, salt, cumin and Tabasco. With a potato masher, work mixture to desired consistency. Note: texture is important in good guacamole. Over-mash, and you end up with baby food (eek!), but not enough, and it won't “dip” without destroying your chips. You want the chunky feel of salsa.

 

Add onion, tomato, garlic and cilantro. Stir gently to combine well. Let sit (for flavors to really pop) for about an hour in the fridge with light cover. Serve with tortilla chips, preferably to your friends after a late night out. Licking the bowl is optional, but encouraged.

 

Sharing food doesn't have to be an intimate thing between lovers—it can be what ties us together with anyone we love or care about, such as our family and friends. One of the big mantras in my house is that “food is love,” and Bellamy's guacamole in
Turn Up The Heat
is a prime example. As an aspiring (and closet) chef, Bellamy cooks from her heart, and in turn that makes everything she prepares into a feast for the emotions. Even late-night guacamole! Bellamy's desire to feed her friends shows how much she cares for them, and following the path of your heart is a big theme in
Turn Up The Heat
. Give this recipe a try, and share it with some friends (over margaritas!) to embody “food is love” in your house, too.

 

Ingredients
:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon, and set aside. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix butter at medium speed for one minute until pale and fluffy. Add sugars, and blend well, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix until combined.

 

Slowly add flour mixture at medium speed, blending until just incorporated, but not over-mixing. Stir in chocolate chips by hand. Drop by rounded teaspoons (try not to go bigger, as these cookies really like to grow as they bake, and they will “melt” together if they're too big) onto a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake for 9–10 minutes, until cookies are just brown and your kitchen smells unbelievable. Cool for 10 minutes on cookie sheet before moving to a wire rack. Cool completely.

 

Makes 3–4 dozen, depending on how ambitious your rounded teaspoons are. The author recommends eating them warm. The author also
highly
recommends eating them warm in bed, while snuggled up with the one you love!

 

Ingredients
:

In a medium saucepan, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add shallot and cook 4–5 minutes or until soft and translucent. Add wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze, then add pomegranate juice, sugar, balsamic vinegar and cranberries. Bring to a simmer, lowering heat if necessary, but keep the mixture at an active simmer. Stirring often, let mixture reduce (20–30 minutes) and cranberries “pop” (expand and soften).

 

While mixture reduces, season pork chops with salt and pepper, both sides, to taste. Combine flour and rosemary in a shallow dish and dredge both pork chops through mixture, coating well and shaking off excess. Warm olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook pork chops for about 5 minutes on each side, until golden and cooked through. Remove to plate and cover with foil to keep warm if your pork beats your reduction sauce to the punch.

 

When the sauce is thick enough to coat a wooden spoon, divide evenly and pour over pork chops. Serve with your favorite sides (ours are rice and green beans!) and enjoy with the one you love!